Profitability of Non Timber Forest Products Collected in Arakanga Forest Reserve, Abeokuta Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated evaluation of economic impact of non-timber forest products collections in Arakanga forest reserve in Ogun State. Purposive sampling was used to select four villages around the reserve, representing 10% sampling intensity in the study area. A total of 98 questionnaires were administered. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and budgetary analysis. Majority of respondents were within the age group of
40-49 years (35.7%) and mostly were female(51%),40.8% had no formal education while 33.7% had primary education and were mostly married(57.1%). Identified NTFPs includes fuelwood, mushroom, charcoal and honey. The result on profitability showed that fuel-wood had the highest net profit (₦10,916.85) among the NTFPs found in the study area. Constraints faced NTFPs were price fluctuation (58.2%), low demand (14.3%) and inadequate credit facilities (11.2%) and host of others. It was recommended that NTFPs should be introduced to youth in order
to reduce the level of unemployment and government should repaired the road network to the forest for easy accessibility for NTFPs operation.

Keywords: profitability, Arakanga, constraint, collections, forest reserve